Pilsen Group Plans Ads To Lure Tourists

Merchants Say Community Needs Upgrades First

A local development organization is planning an advertising campaign to lure tourism to the commercial strip on 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.

The problem is, though, that some hosts on the street don't feel they are ready for visitors yet.

The campaign aims to attract tourists to the neighborhood's restaurants, cafes, bakeries, art galleries and other cultural institutions through English- and Spanish-language radio advertisements. A possible slogan: "Come back to Mexico. Come to Pilsen."

"Pilsen is a great neighborhood. It's our invitation to the rest of the city," said Maria R. Munoz, interim executive director of the Eighteenth Street Development Corp., which is coordinating the campaign scheduled to start this summer.

But some local merchants question whether the neighborhood is prepared to handle an influx of tourists. They say the area lacks the infrastructure to handle tourism and needs better public transportation.

"There needs to be a lot of work done before they can launch a campaign," said Rosario Rabiela, co-owner of Decima Musa, a Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood for 17 years.

Rabiela said tourism would help local businesses, but there needs to be better garbage pickup and a general beautification of the area. She also said service on the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line should be improved and restored on weekends to help lure tourists.

Oscar Iracheta, president of the Eighteenth Street Business Association, agreed.

"We need tourism, but we can't have tourism if we don't have an easy way for people to get down here," Iracheta said. "It's like putting the cart before the horse."

Munoz acknowledged that there should be improvement in the neighborhood, but she said that the advertising campaign could renew interest and pride.

"Hopefully, people will reinvest in the community," she said.

The advertising campaign also includes a video designed to lure industrial companies to the now stalled tax-increment financing district planned in Pilsen.

Iracheta said he supports an industrial TIF if it creates jobs and does not have a negative impact on residents. He fears that taxes could go up disproportionately, or that residents could be displaced.

The TIF was approved last April by the city, but then was stalled by a lawsuit. In November, a Cook County Circuit Court judge said the city violated state law during an April 1998 public hearing, because residents were limited to 30 seconds each for comments and were denied Spanish-language interpretation. The hearings were rescheduled in December but then canceled after one night, when a judge ruled that the city failed to give proper notice while advertising the public hearings.

A new round of public hearings was held last month, and the Community Development Commission has yet to make a recommendation on whether to approve or deny the TIF district, said Jennifer Hoyle, spokeswoman with the city's Law Department.

The four-minute promotional video is geared toward Chicago industrial businesses that are thinking of relocating their companies, Munoz said.

The development corporation supports the 907-acre industrial TIF that could create several thousand local jobs.

Munoz estimated the cost of the advertising campaign at $72,500.

Juan Giron, who owns two bookstores on 18th Street called Libreria Giron, said there also should be additional funding to ensure the advertising campaign airs over an extended period. He said there should be funding to pay for guide maps and information booths.

Giron supports the idea of Pilsen becoming a tourist center like the Chinatown and Greektown neighborhoods.

"But Pilsen right now isn't prepared to have that type of tourist," Giron said.